


we could be bigger and brighter than space

by killerrqueer



Series: riverdale [5]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Gay, Hayley Kiyoko - Freeform, Kehlani - Freeform, bisexuals, cheroni, choni, i love my gay moms, what i need hayley kiyoko, what i need music video
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 06:57:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14847926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerrqueer/pseuds/killerrqueer
Summary: when cheryl is done with her mother's cutting words, toni will always be there to whisk her away.or, the one where toni and cheryl run away together.(based upon the 'what i need' music video by the lovely hayley kiyoko and kehlani)





	we could be bigger and brighter than space

**Author's Note:**

> my friend had the nerve to say that cheryl and toni aren't dating even after i showed her multiple clips of mads and vanessa calling each other their 'girlfriend' imma fight

“Where do you think you’re going to go this time? Where are you gonna-”

Cheryl and her mother were arguing again. Not that it was an uncommon occurrence; they often had blowout fights where she would leave and go stay with Toni for a night or two, but this one was different. Cheryl could sense it in her bones. This time, when Cheryl left, she knew wouldn’t be coming back.

“The same place I always go.” Cheryl grabbed her red backpack and started shoving clothes into it. 

Her mother was following her around her room, yelling. “Oh, yes? The same place with- let me guess- that same girl?”

“Yes, Mother, my same best friend,” huffed Cheryl pointedly. “Toni, you meet her all the time.”

“You must think I’m so stupid. You think I don’t know that Toni is more than just your best friend?” Cheryl’s mother crossed her arms, glaring daggers. If looks could kill, Cheryl would have been six feet under long before now. “You are such an ungrateful, spiteful little child.”

“That’s the point! See, I’m not a child anymore!” Cheryl stamped her foot. “Why can’t I just be me? I’m my own friggin’ person!”

“Ungrateful,” muttered Penelope again. “You should just go if you can’t appreciate all I’ve given you.”

Cheryl shook her favorite bag in the air. “I’ve been planning on going for a while now, Mother. And this time I won’t be coming back.”

“How did I raise you to make you this way? How did you become a… a homosexual? Was it her?”

“I’m bisexual, for the record. And you better think very long and hard before you bring Toni into this.” Cheryl shook her head in barely controlled anger and slung her bag over her shoulder. “Why does everything always go back to her?”

“What are you doing?” Penelope hissed.

“Whatever the hell I want from now on, Mother. And I sure won’t need you.” Cheryl stomped down the stairs and outside, followed by a storming Penelope, where Toni was already waiting. Cheryl had texted her when the fight was just starting because she knew she’d need someone in her corner. 

Toni honked the horn of her uncle’s yellow rust bucket of a car and waved. Cheryl grinned and blew her a dramatic kiss, fully aware that her mother was watching. She ran to the car, then, in a moment of rebellion, turned around and flipped her off, savoring her outraged and utterly surprised stare for a moment. 

“Drive drive drive!”

They peeled out in a cloud of dust, and the two girls were out of Shit-verdale before Penelope’s yell had fully stopped echoing into the open air.

When they were out on the highway, Toni greeted her. “What’s up, loser?!” she cried, wrapping an arm around Cheryl and pulling her to her chest for a quick hug.

“Not much. Just got kicked out of my house and stripped of my inheritance. You know, the usual.”

“Major suck,” said Toni, glancing over with pity before looking back at the road ahead. They were on the one-lane highway now, and it was deserted, so they were going 80 in a 60 zone. “When do you wanna go back, so I know what we can cram into our time? I’m thinking we hit up a bar tonight, there’s a retired Serpent that bouncers at one over this way-”

“I refuse to go back this time, Toni,” Cheryl interrupted. “Mummy is just getting worse. I’m done.”

Toni stopped in her tracks (metaphorically, of course, since they were driving). “Wait, really?” She grinned. “Good for you, girl! So where are you gonna stay?”

“That brings me to my question: can I stay with you?”

Toni’s smile grew wider than was humanly possible. “Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing. My uncle sort of kicked me out, too. Let’s totally run away together.”

Cheryl whooped, which was slightly out of character for her, but she was too excited to hold it in. “Hell yes, baby!” She rolled down the window and leaned out. “We’re running away! Screw you, Penelope Blossom and… and Uncle Topaz! We’re gone!” she hollered.

The two of them ended up going to the bar that Toni had mentioned before. They decided to have a celebration and they could cuddle and sleep off their hangovers in one of the cozy rooms above the building. 

It was a much nicer place than the Whyte Wyrm, the seedy South Side dive in Riverdale were Toni bartended and Cheryl hung out talking to other Serpents while she waited for her to get off work. The bouncer paid no mind to them, other than returning Toni’s wink and waving them through the door before carding some older guys behind them. Toni plopped down at the table and flashed two fingers at the bartender, who poured them each a shot of good-quality tequila. Cheryl picked up a lime slice and poked Toni in the mouth with it, who giggled and sucked the juice out of it from her hand: the only good way to eat a lime. Cheryl made animated conversation with the bartender and Toni accepted the glasses from him. He could probably tell that both of them were underage, but like the bouncer, he didn’t seem to care much.

They clinked glasses in a toast to their newfound freedom and, after a few more shots, they stumbled over to play Drunk Pool, a game of their own design. It was just like pool, but drunk. It usually- no, always- deteriorated into them rolling pool balls at each other, knocking each others’ balls into the pockets, and trying not to get their fingers crushed. As the drinks set in more, they decided to dance with each other on a whim. It was eight o’ clock on a Wednesday night, and the few guests didn’t seem to notice or care about the two girls from different sides of the tracks grinding on each other to tinny Muzak piped in through the wall speakers. Cheryl was enjoying her newfound drunkenness, for this was the first time she had ever been drunk to celebrate instead of forget. She kept playfully pushing Toni against the wall and watching her, under her eyelashes, bounce back to her again to tap their noses flirtatiously. The lights around them grew hazy and the edges of everything softened, like watercolor paint bleeding into paper.

When they talked, it was leaning on the edge of the pool table and spitting random sentence fragments at each other, punctuated by "you know?". The two girls, however, could understand exactly what the other was saying, because they knew each other better than they knew themselves. Their faces were inches apart but they were still yelling over the pounding of the alcohol in their heads.  
“Holy shit,” slurred Toni. “What if we played beer pong, but instead of beer it was, like, tequila, and instead of ping pong balls it was just more tequila.”

“Oh my Goddddd. What would we call it?” Cheryl thought for a second. “Tequila tequila. Beer pong, but with shots of tequila and more tequila.”

Toni choked on her drink, sputtering drops of red mystery liquid on the pristine carpet and Cheryl’s skirt. “Tequila tequila! It’d be shots, and we’d pick up another shot, n’ just-” she mimed throwing something. “YEET!” Cheryl collapsed against the wall of the pool room, howling with laughter, and Toni fell over next to her. For some unfathomable reason they found the idea of tequila tequila hilarious at the time.

After more dancing and even more drunk antics, they eventually ended up with a room above the bar. Neither of them knew how. Toni was dozing upright on a padded bench with Cheryl blacked out, sprawled across her lap. She was an atrocious lightweight, but somehow Toni found that adorable.

The next morning, Cheryl woke up with a start. Glancing at the clock, se realized it was already eleven. Toni had moved her to the tiny single bed and curled up next to her, their legs tangled and backs pressed against each other so they didn’t fall off. Cheryl felt her cheeks grow as red as her hair as she realized she had been in such close proximity to Toni all night.

Toni rolled over at Cheryl sitting up and smiled sleepily. “Hey, stranger.” She winced. “Ow, sunlight.” She picked up a pillow and plopped it over her face.

“I think we have to hit the road now, little vampire,” Cheryl said, plucking the pillow from her hands. “Checkout’s in a half hour and I don’t want to stay a minute longer in this bedbug-infested sewer.”

“There’s the Cheryl we all know and love.” Toni grinned a lazy grin, holding her arms out. “Cuddles.” She pouted slightly when Cheryl shook her head. “Pwease?”

“The baby voice can’t get me, not a chance, Cha-Cha.” A huge lie, and Toni knew it. Cheryl hoisted her up by her outstretched arms and plopped her upright on the floor. “I’m a woman made of fire. Driving time.”

That’s how Toni ended up driving again, to nowhere in particular, with Cheryl dead asleep on her shoulder. Toni made the mistake of looking down for an instant to check on her as she shifted, and accidentally drove the yellow rust bucket of a car straight into the path of an oncoming SUV.

“SHIT!” she cried, jerking the wheel back towards their lane. The other car’s horn blared loudly, and Toni nearly let go of the wheel to grip her ears. Cheryl woke with a start and yanked Toni’s arm in absolute panic as the car spun out, finally coming to a smoky rest by the side of the road. Steam billowed from under the hood. Toni leaned back in relief, adrenaline pounding through her veins and chest heaving, before realizing that Cheryl was laughing. “Not. Funny,” she gritted out.

“It was kinda funny,” Cheryl choked out in between crazy, _I-can’t believe-we’re-alive_ giggles. Toni joined in eventually, eyes scrunching shut, laughs leaking out no matter how much she tries to hold them in, and the two girls laughed their lungs out for five entire minutes, just sitting in the hazard lane.

Toni was the first to get out, lifting up the hood and waving away the cloud of smoke that billowed out. She coughed. “It’s shot.”

Cheryl had already hefted her bag up, grabbed her jacket, and was trotting down the road. “Let’s walk, then!” she called cheerfully over her shoulder. Toni shrugged, waved goodbye to the car, and jogged to catch up with her best friend’s longer legs.

Cheryl, being the bossy princess she was, demanded a piggyback ride, but Toni guilt-tripped her into giving her one instead. They walked for what felt like ages to Cheryl, but Toni insisted was only half a mile. 

After a while more of walking, they decided to pause on the side of the road to hail good hitchhiking candidates. Toni waved very sweetly at a car, then yelled a few choice words and hurled her Serpent jacket at it when it drove by without stopping. She picked it up, and they kept going, trudging on “forever and ever,” as Cheryl groaned. 

Finally, they came across a truck stopped by the side of the road, and Cheryl ran ahead to vault into the bed just as the engine started up. Toni cursed as she realized she was going to be left behind and began to sprint to catch up, breath coming in hurried gasps. Cheryl reached out her hand desperately, and Toni grabbed it, springing into the back and collapsing on top of her. They both peeked up over the side before realizing the owner of the truck would probably be less than happy to have two stowaways, so they laid back down and sent each other excited glances. _Epic!_ mouthed Toni, and Cheryl giggled.

They stayed down, scared to even look at each other for fear of being caught, for several miles. Eventually, Cheryl bit her lip shyly, sending Toni a soft smile, and Toni felt herself being drawn closer to her when the truck suddenly screeched to a halt. “Get the fuck out of my truck! How long have you been back there?”

Toni and Cheryl guiltily clambered out of the bed of the truck and jumped to the ground. “Sorry, sir, our car broke down a few miles back,” said Toni, dusting off her jeans.

“You’re lucky you’re not dead or givin’ me a ticket! I-” He suddenly noticed Cheryl in all her perfectly made up, long-legged glory and breathed out a small “whoa…” Toni felt something close to jealousy crawl into her throat. _Me too, dude._

Cheryl noticed it and batted her eyelashes. “Any chance you can give us a ride, sir?” she asked innocently. “We’re ever so lost.”

“I’ll sure give you a ride, baby. Oh my God.” His voice had thickened into something oily that made Toni gag on her own revulsion. She followed Cheryl and the sleazy man around to the side of the truck. “Lemme get that for you,” he said. It gave Toni some pride to see Cheryl bat his hand away and open the door herself. He walked around to the driver’s side, but Toni stayed.

“Get in the car, Toni,” Cheryl said, gesturing to the seat. “He’ll give us a ride.”

“I don’t think we should, C,” hissed Toni, glancing around. “He’s shady as hell.”

Cheryl ignored her. “Get in.”

“I really don’t think-”

“What are you going to do then, walk?”

“I-” Toni stuttered. “I just-”

“The car’s a mile away!”

“Cherry, please-”

“Get in the damn car, Toni!” She sighed. “You know what? I’m just going to go.”

“Fine, then,” Toni spat angrily. “See if I care.” She slammed the door in Cheryl’s face and the truck took off, leaving her in a cloud of dust. That man just couldn’t wait to get rid of her so he could leave his grabby handprints all over Cheryl’s soft porcelain body, could he? Well, Toni didn’t give a shit. 

She sniffled.

Okay, maybe she gave one shit. She should have gone with Cheryl so she could have protected her.

As she walked, she thought about good memories, trying to distract from the fact that in a few miles, she’d probably come across Cheryl’s unconscious body.

She remembered when they first met, at the drag race, Cheryl’s pale skin freckling under the hot sun. Their hands brushing in the popcorn bin at the movies. How they slowly became best friends. How they would vent to each other about their crappy home lives, though Cheryl’s was infinitely more crappy than her own. She remembered how, whenever Cheryl came to her trailer to run away for the night, they would curl up on the couch together and watch all of Toni’s favorite old movies and sometimes they would make brownies or cupcakes and they would share the extra batter at the bottom of the bowl. Cheryl’s bossy yell, ordering Toni around, but in the sweetest way possible. She thought about Cheryl feeding her the lime slice, remembering the brief touch of fingertips on her lips before the tart juice was all gone. She thought of the feeling of their bodies together on the bed, and how they seemed to just… fit. 

She really hadn’t realized how much of her recent life was just Cheryl. Cheryl in her kitchen, laughing at one of Toni’s dumb jokes and licking melted chocolate off of her fingers. Cheryl on the back of her motorcycle, arms wrapped tightly around her stomach as they joyrode around Riverdale. Cheryl in the Whyte Wyrm, looking so out of place yet completely comfortable, a dot of red in a sea of black, her whole face lighting up when Toni looked at her. Cheryl on the gym floor, stretching her legs and inviting her over. Cheryl in the hallway, staring down anyone who dared to look at her Serpent queen the wrong way. Cheryl in the grass, pointing out funnily-shaped clouds. Cheryl on the highway, running towards her.

Wait… that wasn’t a memory.

_Cheryl._

Toni slowly stopped walking foward. Cheryl’s red hair was flying out behind her as she sprinted down the road. She looked more like an angel than anyone Toni had ever seen. Toni’s face broke into a smile and she looped her bag over her shoulder. “Cheryl!” Toni yelled, incredibly grateful to see her alive and well.

Suddenly she was right in front of her, and Toni’s mouth was halfway open, ready to apologize and tell Cheryl she’d never leave her again, when there was a pair of bright red lips on hers and her hands landed around her waist and suddenly all there was was _skin skin skin_ and total sensory overload because she was kissing Cheryl Blossom. Toni’s hands slid into Cheryl’s hair and they were making out in the middle of the damn road and, honestly, Toni didn’t care at all. She pulled her closer and closer until they were as close as they possibly could be without being the same person.

Cheryl’s lips left hers for a moment so she could whisper “I love you.” Foreheads and noses touching, the feel of skin on skin. Most people would have freaked out, but Toni realized something at that moment. 

“Me too.” Toni’s lips landed back on Cheryl’s and she smiled in relief into the kiss. They lost their balance and stumbled, Cheryl’s white shirt smearing with dust, Toni’s hands running up her waist as they collapsed on top of each other. Now they were lying in the middle of the road and it was the most incredible thing ever because with anyone else Toni would have cared, but with Cheryl she didn’t. Not at all.

_Cheryl Cheryl Cheryl._

If this was what running away was like, Toni was all for it.


End file.
